Nov 19, 2018 | Dave French | 190 views
Meteors make it to Semi Finals
The Lockhart Peewee C girls fought hard all weekend in the Stratford Aces Tourney losing a very close game in the semi final on Sunday.
On Friday morning the girls began the tournament playing the host team Stratford and came out on the losing end of a 1-0 battle. Stratford scored at 8:38 of the first period on a screened and deflected shot which barely got past goaltender Ally Vogels. Vogels then closed the door and made some spectacular saves and along with excellent defense from Jessie Horan, Elli Morrison, Kaylee Seip and Peyton Vanderkuylen kept their team in the game but Mitchell were unable to even the score.
In the second game the Meteors played St. Marys where they once again found their scoring touch. Kara Rolph opened the scoring in the first with an assist going to Horan. St. Marys tied the game midway through the second leading to an exciting third period. Shawni DeJong stood strong in goal making some great saves and allowing the girls to take over the game. With 4:06 remaining in the game, Vanderkuylen pushed the puck down the boards getting it loose to Brooklynn French who fired a shot which the goalie couldn't handle and Rolph was there to pounce on the rebound for her second of the game. Ashley McLeod finished off the scoring by burying a feed from Rolph with an assist going to Rachel Haefling giving the girls a 3-1 victory.
The girls then played a strong Lambton team for their third game coming up just short losing 2-1 . Mitchell opened the scoring in the first after DeJong and Jade Huygen both earned assists by powering their way into the offensive zone getting the puck free to French whose backhanded shot eluded the Lambton goaltender. The girls were outnumbered and tired but held off the opposition until midway through the final frame where Lambton scored two to earn the victory.
Needing a win against Saugeen to guarantee a spot in the semi-finals the girls came out on a mission. Saugeen opened the scoring in the first but Ashley McLeod responded 18 seconds later to tie it up after some great work from Haefing and Rolph to give them both assists. The game remained tied until the third when the girls decided to finish them off. Huygen pushed the puck down the boards and battled hard getting the puck free to French who buried the game winner just 44 seconds into the frame. DeJong held down the fort until McLeod fresh out of the penalty box scored an insurance marker with assists going to Huygen and Morrison.
In the semi-final the Meteors once again faced Lambton hoping to avenge the earlier loss to them in the tournament. Defense and goaltending again was very strong. Lambton scored twice in the opening frame but then Vogels shut the door. Morrison, Vanderkuylen, Seip and Horan were strong all game on defense, constantly shutting down the opposition's attack. Nearing the end of the second period Horan capped off a beautiful end to end rush and scored to bring the Meteors to within one. The girls pressed hard for the rest of the third but were unable to find the tying goal and lost a heartbreaker 2-1.
Congratulations to the girls and the coaches for all their hard work this weekend.